| The Homesteading Experience |
| The saga of the Ranch Truck continues. The fuel additive helped a little bit, and next I tried an oil additive. I am afraid that the two years the truck sat at the ranch and didn't get run, the seals have all dried up and cracked. I put two cans of a product called Restore in the crank case hoping it would help. Restore claims to help rejuvenate old rings and seals. After running the truck for about 70 miles the engine smoothed out pretty good. When I am sitting at idle it still misses badly, but once I give it some fuel it smooths out for the most part. When I first start the truck it smokes pretty bad, and if I stop at a red light and have to wait very long it gives a good puff of black smoke when I finally take off again, but it still runs. I've talked to a couple of mechanics about it, but because the truck is so old and beat up, they do not want to work on it. That means it's up to me if the truck is going to get fixed, and unfortuantly I have very limited experience working on diesel engines. I purchased a Chilton manual however, and if I need too I guess I can rebuild the motor. At this point I'm into the truck for only about $1000. so I have to decide if it's worth spending anymore. At this time I don't trust the truck enough to drive any distance from home. I am still using it to drive across town, and to the store for supplies, and it hasn't given me any trouble. I'm afraid that out of the blue one day I'm going to blow a piston, and there I'll be. I recently came across another truck that might be worth investing in. It's a 1996 Ford Ranger with 89K miles. The outside is a little banged up, the inside is pretty clean, 4 new tires, automatic, and cold AC. Currently the truck doesn't run, but the owner towed it to the homestead for me to look at, and I'll see if I can fix it. At first glance I believe the problem is an after market alarm that has malfunctioned. If I remove the alarm I believe the truck will start, and if it does I might be able to work a good deal on it. It's not a heavy duty diesel like I wanted, but it's a truck with a bed, and I can use it to pull a trailer. To be continued...... . |